InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Chronicles ❯ Cracked ( Chapter 25 )

~~Chapter 25~~

~Cracked~

 

“I don't get it,” InuYasha remarked as he set Kagome on her feet outside the Bone Eater's Well. “I mean, who'd be fucking stupid enough to have pups with Sesshoumaru?”

 

“At least your nephew seemed nice enough. How strange is that? He's older than you are in my time. In this time, he's not even born yet.” She shrugged. “In that case, I guess we shouldn't tell Sesshoumaru about Nibori.”

 

“Keh! As if I normally talk to that bastard. The only thing he understands is fighting.”

 

“Still, Nibori was very nice, I thought.”

 

“Nice? Fuck!”

 

“InuYasha!”

 

“I'm telling you, there's something weird going on. Nibori was a little too nice, especially if he's Sesshoumaru's son . . . and why the hell wouldn't he tell us where Sesshoumaru was?”

 

She leveled a dark look at him. “Maybe Sesshoumaru told him that you and he don't get along very well.”

 

He returned his version of the same look. “And once more, you understate the obvious, wench.”

 

Kagome dragged her backpack over her shoulder and shook her head. InuYasha took the bag and gently swatted her hands away when she reached for it again. She gave up after a moment with a pronounced sigh as the two headed toward the forest trail that led to the village. “Oh, come on! Sesshoumaru's not that bad,” Kagome remarked.

 

InuYasha stopped abruptly and whirled to glower down at Kagome. “What the hell are you saying? You don't like him do you?”

 

She made a face. “Of course not! I'm just saying that he has saved you a few times, and—”

 

“Keh! He hasn't saved me! I've never needed that bastard's help!”

 

“Well, he has helped, though, and you can't say he hasn't.”

 

InuYasha snorted. “Sesshoumaru's like a parasite. He just won't fucking go away.”

 

Kagome rolled her eyes. “You have such a way with words, Dog-boy.”

 

“Keh. Move it, wench. In case you haven't noticed, it's starting to snow.”

 

“It was a little surprising to meet a fully-grown nephew, wasn't it?” Kagome asked.

 

InuYasha shrugged. “Don't much care. What should it matter to me if Sesshoumaru has one pup or a thousand?”

 

Kagome laughed. “A thousand? Ouch!”

 

InuYasha snorted, shifting the bag over his shoulder. “You know what I meant, wench.”

 

Kagome stopped short, her smile disappearing as she gasped and pointed straight ahead. InuYasha looked up to see what had brought on that reaction. “The hell?”

 

Miroku ducked behind a tree as Sango hurled Hiraikotsu toward him. The giant boomerang whistled as it sailed through the air. InuYasha dropped the bag and shot forward, drawing Tetsusaiga as he yelled, “Get down, damn it!”

 

The monk dropped as Tetsusaiga and Hiraikotsu collided. The boomerang stopped, and Miroku caught the weapon before it crashed down on his head.

 

“What's going on?” Kagome asked as she ran over to survey the situation. “Miroku? Are you all right?”

 

“What the hell did you grope this time?” InuYasha snarled as he glowered at Tetsusaiga.

 

“I didn't grope anything yet,” Miroku stated calmly as he shifted Hiraikotsu to rest on the ground.

 

“Oh, yeah? Then why's she trying to take your head off?”

 

“Kagome! InuYasha! We didn't expect you two back so soon!” Sango said as she joined them.

 

InuYasha narrowed his gaze on the youkai exterminator. Flushed and out of breath, he could smell her anxiety. “What the hell is going on?” he yelled to be heard over Kagome's recap of their meeting with Sesshoumaru's son.

 

“Going on?” Miroku repeated with a quick glance at Sango. “Nothing's going on. Why do you ask?”

 

“Save it, lecher. I was asking Sango.”

 

Sango's eyes widened. “Me? Oh . . . nothing, like Houshi-sama said. Nothing at all! You have a nephew, InuYasha?”

 

“Unfortunately. So why are you trying to off the monk? Not that I blame you.”

 

“There was a youkai,” Sango replied quickly.

 

“I don't smell none.”

 

Sango forced a laugh. “No? Then I must have been seeing things.”

 

InuYasha shook his head and snatched Kagome's bag out of her hands again after he dropped Tetsusaiga into the scabbard. “Fucking weird,” he remarked as he stomped away. It was obvious that he wasn't going to get any real answers out of either of them, so why bother?

 

`They owe me some answers,' he fumed as he stalked toward the village. Intercepting Sango's stupid bone weapon before it could decapitate the monk had caused a small crack in Tetsusaiga's blade. `Great . . . I wanted to hunt down that damn wolf cub, but now I've got to go see that old geezer instead. Totosai better not be hibernating . . .'

 

“InuYasha! Where is Kagome?” Shippou asked as InuYasha entered the warm hut.

 

“Playing twenty questions with that pervert and Sango,” he retorted as he dropped the bag and sank down on the floor. The kitsune leaped at the bag. InuYasha caught him. “Back off, runt. Wait for Kagome.”

 

Shippou pouted but did as he was told. Kaede glanced up from the herbal powder she was making. “What vexes ye, InuYasha?”

 

He pulled Tetsusaiga out of the sheath and sank down by the fire pit. Rubbing the slight crack only irritated him more, and he snorted. “Keh! I stopped Hiraikotsu with Tetsusaiga, and it cracked.”

 

Kaede's head shot up. “Cracked? Best ye get that fixed right away.”

 

For some reason, hearing someone else fretting over the blade calmed InuYasha's exasperation. “I got it covered, old woman. I'll just go have Totosai fix it.”

 

Kagome and Sango entered the hut with Miroku close behind. The girls were giggling and stopped talking when they caught sight of InuYasha holding Tetsusaiga across his lap.

 

“Something happen to Tetsusaiga?” Sango asked as she knelt beside Kaede.

 

“Yeah, you did,” he snapped. He got up and dropped the sword into the scabbard before stalking toward the door. He stopped in the doorway and stared at Kagome. “I ain't waiting for you all day, wench.”

 

Kagome shook her head slowly. “Where are we going?”

 

“Totosai's. Tetsusaiga got cracked. Now stop jabbering and come on.”

 

She frowned. “You never take me with you when you go see Totosai.”

 

InuYasha rolled his eyes. “Keh! Suit yourself then. Stay here. I don't care.”

 

“Interesting . . . Are we all invited or is Kagome special?” Miroku piped up.

 

“You and Sango are the reasons I have to go to see the old codger,” InuYasha pointed out. “Stay the fuck here, monk. You coming, Kagome?”

 

“I want to come along! I didn't cause anything!” Shippou remarked.

 

“You're staying here,” InuYasha growled.

 

“Why can't I come along?”

 

“Totosai hates you.”

 

“InuYasha!”

 

“He does not!” Shippou argued. “He talks to me when he's around!”

 

Almost ready to lose what was left of his patience, InuYasha snarled, “He's just trying to get you on his good side so he can cook you, eat you, and use your bones to pick his teeth.”

 

“Totosai has teeth?” Miroku asked.

 

“Shut up!” InuYasha bellowed.

 

“Come to think of it, I've never noticed whether or not he does,” Sango remarked.

 

“Kagome! InuYasha isn't being nice!” Shippou cried, hurling himself into Kagome's arms.

 

“InuYasha!”

 

“I don't have time for this!” he declared and threw open the bamboo covering the door.

 

“Osuwari!”

 

“Damn—Ungh!”

 

“Stay here, Shippou. It shouldn't take long, and we'll come right back, right, InuYasha?”

 

InuYasha peeled himself off the ground and glared back at Kagome. “On second thought,” he growled, “I think I'll go alone, after all.” He stood up and straightened his back with as much dignity as he could muster and threw open the bamboo divider again. After a moment, he glanced back.

 

Kagome knelt on the floor by the fire, shoulders slumped slightly as she listened to whatever Kaede was telling her. Maybe the others couldn't sense Kagome's slight upset. InuYasha sighed inwardly. He could, damn it. “Coming, wench?” he finally asked.

 

Kagome turned her head, staring over her shoulder at him. Slowly she smiled and got up, pausing just long enough to grab her coat and backpack before she skittered across the floor to stand beside him. He made a show of rolling his eyes before ducking out of the hut, waiting for Kagome to follow.

 

“Why do you want me to come along?” she asked as he pulled her onto his back and lit out of the village.

 

“Keh! Who said I wanted you to come along?”

 

She giggled and rested her cheek against his shoulder. “I like to be with you, too.”

 

He grinned as he sprinted across the land.

 

 

::8::8::8::8::8::8::8::8::8::8::

 

 

“What did you do to Tetsusaiga?” Totosai cried as he stared at the miniscule crack.

 

“Stop whining and fix it, will you, old man?”

 

“InuYasha was saving Miroku from having his head removed,” Kagome supplied helpfully.

 

“You're lucky it's just a tiny crack,” Totosai remarked as he dug through his gear. He pulled out the tongs he'd used to extract one of InuYasha's fangs years ago to strengthen and repair the broken fang.

 

InuYasha felt a full-body shudder just looking at those tongs, and he covered his mouth with a hand. “Fucking forget it, you old crackpot,” he snarled.

 

Totosai looked duly befuddled. “Was it something I said?”

 

Kagome sighed and shook her head. “Can you fix it without yanking one of InuYasha's fangs?”

 

“Fang? Why would I need a fang?”

 

“To fix Tetsusaiga, damn it!”

 

“Oh, yes, Tetsusaiga . . . nope, don't need a fang for this small a crack,” he remarked. He stared thoughtfully at the blade and then slowly shifted his gaze to the hanyou. “You just want it repaired, right?”

 

InuYasha lifted his fist like he was ready to thump the old swordsmith. Kagome grabbed his wrist. “Calm down, InuYasha! It's fine!”

 

“I could make it stronger,” Totosai remarked. “But . . . ehh, never mind. You don't need it. It's good enough as it is, for the likes of you.”

 

“Master Totosai, you're not thinking what I think you are, are you?”

 

“Hey!” Kagome said, slapping her hand against her neck. Myouga fell away with a low groan. “I thought I recognized your voice.”

 

“Oi! Don't be sucking on Kagome!” InuYasha growled, flicking the flea across the cave. Satisfied that Myouga wouldn't be trying to suck Kagome's blood again, he turned his gaze on Totosai. “Make it stronger? How?”

 

“Totosai, what are you thinking?” Myouga hollered, bouncing over to light on InuYasha's knee. InuYasha readied his fingers to flick the flea again. Myouga hurried on. “You know what that would do! Do you think it's a good idea? I mean—Aahh!”

 

“InuYasha, you should have listened to what he was saying before you flicked him,” Kagome pointed out reasonably.

 

“Keh.”

 

Totosai scratched his chin, staring at Tetsusaiga with a thoughtful frown. “Do you need this back today, InuYasha?”

 

InuYasha growled. “Now that's a stupid question, old man! And what did you mean by making Tetsusaiga stronger?”

 

“Stronger?” Totosai repeated with a vacant look in his buggy eyes. “Did I say that?”

 

Flexing his claws, InuYasha growled louder. “Totosai—”

 

“He's not ready for that, Totosai!” Myouga squeaked, hopping onto the swordsmith's arm. “I'm warning you, that's a really bad idea!”

 

Totosai sat back and considered Myouga's warning. “I suppose you're right. Don't know what I was thinking . . .”

 

InuYasha reached over and thumped Totosai in the head. “Just fix it, will you? Come on, Kagome.” The hanyou stomped out of the cave without waiting to see if Kagome followed him or not. The girl got up and ran after InuYasha.

 

“Did you get enough, Myouga?”

 

Myouga rubbed his head and sighed. “Yes.”

 

Totosai held out a small wooden bowl. The flea spit the blood into it. Totosai stared into the bowl and shook his head. “We still need InuYasha's blood . . . and you're sure that she's the one?”

 

“I'm sure, I'm sure!” Myouga insisted then sighed again before hopping off Totosai's knee and bouncing toward the entrance. `I should get hazard pay for this,' he thought as he made for the grumpy hanyou. `InuYasha-sama better appreciate this . . .'

 

 

::8::8::8::8::8::8::8::8::8::8::

 

 

Kagome rolled her eyes as InuYasha carefully raised Tetsusaiga and brandished it before him. It wasn't his movements as much as it was the child-like happiness in his expression that prompted her response.

 

“Thanks, Totosai,” InuYasha said as he slid Tetsusaiga into the scabbard on his hip. “Guess you're not so useless after all.”

 

“It didn't take very long to fix it,” Kagome commented as InuYasha sat down beside her.

 

“I didn't imagine it would,” Totosai remarked vaguely.

 

“So what'd you use to fix it?” InuYasha asked, obviously happy enough to carry on a civil conversation with the old smith.

 

“Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that . . .”

 

“Have you located Izayoi-sama's diary?” Myouga asked from his perch atop InuYasha's shoulder.

 

InuYasha's mood darkened drastically. “It was destroyed.”

 

Myouga plopped down. “What?”

 

“Your mother's diary?” Totosai asked. “Who says?”

 

InuYasha scowled, folding his hands together. “Katosan told me. He said that Mother's family stole the journal from Sesshoumaru and destroyed it.”

 

Totosai scratched his head. “You don't say . . . so maybe her journal was destroyed. That doesn't mean her diary was.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“She kept two books,” Kagome whispered.

 

InuYasha narrowed his gaze as he stared at Totosai. “Did she?”

 

“Who?”

 

Issuing a low growl, InuYasha leaned forward to threaten Totosai.

 

“Come to think of it, there was a bit of confusion at the time,” Myouga commented. “I remember, she talked of both, as though they were two different things.”

 

“So if even if the journal was destroyed, the diary might not have been,” Kagome reasoned.

 

InuYasha shook his head. “So where's the diary?”

 

Myouga sighed. Totosai scratched his head some more. Kagome waited for someone to speak. “I know of its existence. I never saw the diary, though.”

 

“Would Katosan know anything about it?” Kagome asked.

 

InuYasha shrugged. “Wouldn't he have told me if he did?”

 

“He would, if anyone does,” Totosai spoke up. “He was there . . .”

 

“What do you mean, he was there?”

 

“Hmm, yes . . . he was. I forgot,” Myouga agreed.

 

“He was where?” InuYasha demanded.

 

“Katosan was there, when your mother was killed.”

 

“I don't like him very much,” Totosai remarked. “He reminds me of someone else . . . can't remember who . . . but I know I don't like that one, either.”

 

“You want to go there again, don't you? To see Katosan?” Kagome asked quietly.

 

“Keh! You have to ask?”

 

She frowned. If Katosan knew about the diary, too, then why hadn't he already said something to InuYasha?

 

 

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A/N:

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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Chronicles): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~